An investigation of preservice early childhood teachers’ adoption of ICT in a teaching practicum context in Hong Kong

The research reported here investigated the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) by 15 Hong Kong preservice early childhood teachers (PSTs) who had completed a course regarding the use of ICT in early childhood settings as they participated in their first-year teaching practicum. The study examined the preservice teachers use of ICT and their ability to integrate ICT into their teaching practices. The research took place in 7 preschool settings across the Hong Kong Special Administration Region (SAR). The results indicated that preservice teachers used ICT mostly in the context of a teacher-directed approach to learning. The contexts allowed for few child-directed activities and very few child-initiated activities. Similarly, when the preservice teachers incorporated learning activities that used ICT, they initiated and directed most of the activities. The findings from this study indicate that school factors, such as school-level curriculum, ICT infrastructure, and the mentor-teacher’s teaching philosophy exerted a powerful influence on the way that preservice teachers were able to use ICT in their teaching practicum. Copyright © 2017 National Association of Early Childhood Teacher Educators.